(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an animal wound wrap and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an animal wound wrap for holding a primary wound dressing, a tube and/or a drain in place at various locations on an animal's body.
(b) Discussion of Prior Art
Heretofore, animal and human medicine have at times been able to share some technologies and basic treatment principles. It is however obvious that this sharing is impractical when issues of differences in anatomy, the presence of coats of fur and special idiosyncratic behavior are considered.
These differences predispose animal wound care to complicated problems of retention of the wound dressings. Complicating an already difficult problem are the anatomic variations due to differences among breeds and the need for wound dressings to withstand animal behavior. There are few options available in veterinary medicine. If one needs to secure a wound dressing, a cold/hot pack, a surgical tube or drain, an intravenous device or any other treatment device, treatment or retention choices are often cumbersome, time consuming, precarious and complicated to the untrained. Traditional solutions for the caregiver are limited to adhesives and/or non-conforming wraps.
The present invention, by virtue of its design, construction and understanding of the special needs in animal wound care, significantly reduces the inadequacies and problems associated with the traditional techniques. The main problem in veterinary wound care is retention or maintenance of the wound dressing. The present invention reduces and/or eliminates the following:                1. Difficulty in finding a retention solution for the numerous anatomic locations in need of a wound dressing, such as, but not limited to the hip, torso, shoulder, head, ears and foot pad.        2. Frequent need to shave an animal so that adhesives can be utilized.        3. Complications from the use of adhesives due to pain on dressing removal, damage to the skin and need to remove hair or fur that at times requires a general anesthetic for the animal for the removal process.        4. Significant time required to perform wound dressing changes or applications.        5. Need for assistance of multiple individuals to perform dressing applications, change or removal.        6. Lack of a conforming dressing to various sized animals and anatomic locations.        7. Constrictive nature of traditional wound retention procedures, which are dangerous by restricting blood flow and airways.        8. Lack of reusability of the retention device.        9. Ability to perform only one function at a time, requiring the incorporation of a a second or third wound device for additional needs. The subject invention can perform more than one function at a time such as secure a wound dressing, hold a IV tube or drain tube and both in multiples.        10. Exclusion of the home setting as a treatment locale option because of the traditional method's complexity.        11. Movement of wound dressings with resultant reduction in efficacy.        
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,456,660 and 5,662,599 to Shesol et al., a bidirectional disposable wound dressing and support unit is described for holding a variety of different size standard gauze pads on top of a wound and providing painless access to the wound without the use of adhesives. The disposable wound dressing and support unit is characterized by a window opening disposed along the length of the wrap. A gauze pad is releasably attached to the sides of the window opening. The window opening in the wrap allows for visual inspection of the gauze pad relative to the nature of wound drainage. This type of wound wrap, while effective in enhanced healing of a wound, is limited by the placement of the primary wound dressing next to the window opening. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 6,258,051 to Shesol et al. discloses the wound wrap having adhesive strips along the length thereof for securing a sterile gauze pad thereto and without the use of a window opening. But, this wound wrap is not contoured for holding a primary wound dressing for certain large or small unaccessible anatomic areas of an animal's body. Also, this type of wound wrap has a predetermined wound dressing site. The adhesive strips on the secondary wound dressing holder do not allow for placement of the primary wound dressing other than next to strips.
The above mentioned prior art wound wraps do not provide the unique features, structure and function of the subject invention as described herein when addressing the need for an animal wound wrap used in holding a primary wound dressing at various or multiple locations on the body of the animal.